


Surrogate

by unholy_this



Category: The Rite (2011)
Genre: Demonic Possession, Mentions of Blood, Mpreg, light descriptions of gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:53:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24758110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unholy_this/pseuds/unholy_this
Summary: Michael appears, suddenly and uninvited, to Father Lucas’ home, bringing with him something Lucas could never have expected to see.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Surrogate

**Author's Note:**

> I have zero experience with how catholic priests pray and… generally do their stuff. Just roll with it.

It was pouring rain.

Michael stood right outside the cab, as if the cold water had shocked him out of reality. It was only the cab driver’s “Signore?” that made him finally move. He turned and saw the worried driver hold out Michael’s small duffel bag to him. Michael took it silently and walked on without a word. He heard the driver whisper something in Italian to himself then get back inside the cab, rushing off.

Michael walked slowly into the porch of father Lucas’ home. Every step felt wrong, as if something was pulling him on the other direction.

_Something probably was._

Finally reaching the front door, he raised his hand slowly and knocked on it three times. No answer came immediately, so he knocked again, on and on until his hand found no obstacle and instead went through air - it took Michael a second to realize the door had opened.

“Michael?” father Lucas said. “What are you doing- Come in.”

Michael blinked, lowering his head, and took a few tentative steps inside, just as one of the porch cats slipped in too.

Father Lucas scoffed, but turned immediately to Michael. “What happened? Are you alright?”

Michael looked up at him and straightened his back, finally out of the rain. He didn’t need to look at Lucas’ face to know he had seen it.

The bump in his stomach, that very much resembled a baby bump.

“Sit down, come sit down.” Lucas said. “What happened, Michael? What is this?”

Michael finally looked at him. The worry on his face made him shiver. “I don’t know. It… it started appearing, growing, about three weeks ago.”

“Three weeks?” His eyes widened and he looked down at it.

“At first I thought it was… gas or something. But it kept… growing. Last week I… I felt it move.”

“Move? Like a baby?”

“And it’s growing so fast. I didn’t know what to do.”

Just then, the cat that had snuck in with him reached the chair he was sitting on and jumped on his lap. He would normally flinch - he still wasn’t a fan of cats, let alone those that would sit on him - but this time he just relaxed and brought his hand to rub her head as she purred. She was completely black, except from her left foot, which was white instead.

“That’s Hermione,” Lucas said softly. “She was Rosaria’s favorite.”

Michael tensed, feeling a soft move from inside as the cat rubbed her head on his stomach.

Lucas looked at the bump, shaking his head. “It can’t be… I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“Do you think… it could be real?” Michael was breathless now; it couldn’t be, could it?

“Only one way to find out,” Lucas said as he stood up. “Pray. We’ll figure it out.”

As Lucas prepared himself - for an _exorcism_ \- Michael looked at himself in the mirror next to him. It wasn’t just the wet, dishevelled and tired look on him. It was the unshaven stubble, a cat on his lap, and a freaking bump growing from his stomach. He looked alien to his own self.

“Come,” Lucas said, grabbing Hermione from the back of her neck and getting her out.

Michael shivered. Since when did he feel lonely without a cat by his side?

They walked upstairs slowly, to the exorcism room. Michael felt something stir inside him again and his hand twitched, as if it wanted to reach out and rub… or scratch, something.

“Have you had crises?” Lucas asked. “Have you been violent, anything? Do I need to tie you up?”

Michael shook his head.

“Sit. Take my hand and pray with me.”

He did as he was told, reciting the prayer with Lucas even as more and more shivers ran down his spine. His voice strained, sounding breathless and pained as he started sweating, and it took him some long seconds to realize Lucas had stopped praying with him. Michael looked at him through tear-glazed eyes.

“Keep praying,” Lucas said.

Michael crossed his hands and closed his eyes, continuing his prayer in a voice that almost didn’t want to be used, as Lucas recited his own prayer.

“In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I command you to reveal yourself. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, reveal yourself! Speak your name, demon!”

Michael felt as if fire was being pushed down his throat. He yelped in pain and doubled over himself.

“Reveal yourself! Your God commands you! Speak your name!”

Michael screamed, grabbing on the chair’s arms tightly, as if wanting to break them. As if he wanted to tear them apart and impale the stupid priest with the splintered wood-

“No!” Michael screamed, shaking whole.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up, eyes wide, on father Lucas. He was still praying, asking for the demon inside him to be revealed. One hand went for Lucas’ hand, wanting to keep it in place, to help keep himself steady, to help… him. The other stayed on the arm of the chair, still wanting to rip it off.

“Reveal yourself!”

Michael’s head shook from one side to the other.

_You’re not ready for me, priest._

“Speak your name!”

_Don’t you already know it._

The hand holding onto Lucas’ hand slipped, falling softly on the other arm of the chair. Michael’s face and body relaxed.

Michael had stopped praying.

He wasn’t much of Michael Kovak anymore.

“What do you want?” Lucas said.

“Oh, do we really have to always want for something?” Michael’s voice said. “Can’t we just have some _fun_?”

“Weird idea of fun you have.”

A laugh left Michael’s mouth. “Would you look at that? Our priest now turned sassy.” His body sat back on the chair and his fingers tapped softly on the wooden arms.

“I know what you’re doing,” Lucas said, looking confident.

“Oh, you smug bitch.”

“You’re taunting us. We didn’t save Rosaria-”

“ _You_ didn’t save her.” Michael’s head lolled to the side. “You failed her, and you failed yourself, you would have almost died if it weren’t for his hot stuff right here.” His head lolled to the other side. “I’ve got to give it to him, though. He’s strong. Took me months to finally grasp on him.”

“By giving him a fake belly?”

“Oh, I assure you the baby is as real as you and I.” A hand went to rest on said belly, fingers tapping on it. “Come on then. I know you have a stethoscope. See for yourself how that thing has a heartbeat.”

Lucas placed his hand softly on Michael’s head. A hiss left Michael’s mouth, but his voice said, “Enough, you filthy preacher. You couldn’t save yourself from me, d'you think you can save this man?” His head started moving from one side to the other. “Stop touching me. Let me go! Go away!”

“Baal.”

Michael’s head leaned back, eyes wide as a hiss left him again.

“Leave this man’s body. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I command you to leave this man’s body!”

“You can try,” Michael’s voice whispered.

“Leave, Baal. Your God commands you! I exorcise you, spirit! Leave this man’s body!”

“You can beg all you want.”

With a deep inhale, Michael’s head leaned forward again, and he finally blinked. He looked up. “Father?”

Lucas knelt in front of him. “Michael.”

Tears started falling from his eyes. “It’s real. It is. The baby. It’s real.”

Lucas shook his head. “It’s just an illusion-”

“No! It’s real! It’s growing and moving inside of me!”

Lucas looked at him, then at his stomach.

“Please. You’re a doctor. Check it.”

“It’s all a lie.”

“Please! Please, I need to know. He- he knows so much, he knows everything, I need to know something…” He leaned forward, covering his face with his hands.

Lucas sighed. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

In the short time it took for Lucas to come back, Michael was overwhelmed with images of a small child running on a field, playing, smiling, laughing. It felt as if he couldn’t escape them, as if whatever he tried, the images still taunted and tormented him-

“Michael, wake up.”

He jumped and looked up, realizing he’d fallen asleep.

The images had been a dream?

“Sit back. Try and relax.”

“That’s easy to say.”

Lucas leaned down and lifted Michael’s shirt, putting the cold end of the stethoscope on the bump. Michael stared at him, holding his breath for a reaction. For a moment, there was none. Then Lucas’ eyes widened and he froze, looking dumb-founded on Michael’s stomach.

“Father?” Michael said.

Lucas blinked, took away the stethoscope, then crossed himself.

“Father?!”

“It’s real. I can hear its heartbeat.”

They kept silent for a minute, Lucas holding his fist over his mouth. “Right,” he said finally, standing up. “I know a doctor, she’ll be discreet, though panicked, probably…”

“For what?”

Lucas looked at him. “To take it out of you, of course.”

“No!”

Lucas froze.

The voice hadn’t been Michael’s. It hadn’t even sounded human.

“You fucking priests,” the voice went on. “You preach about how abortion is murder, even if the pregnancy’s harmful to the mother, and yet…”

“I don’t know what you did to him,” Lucas said. “But this thing? It’s unholy.”

“It’s just an innocent baby!” the voice said with mock innocence. Michael’s hand rubbed at the bare stomach. “You’re going to kill a helpless, innocent soul?”

“It’s not innocent. It doesn’t belong there.”

“Oh, it didn’t belong in Rosaria’s body either. Don’t you remember?” Michael’s head lolled to the side again. “She didn’t want the baby. Why is it a shame that it died then, but it’s unholy when it comes back now?”

“It’s unnatural.”

A laugh left Michael’s mouth. “I admit, I had to torture his body a bit, or, _stretch_ the limits, if you’d rather, to bring the baby to the stage it was when you let it die.”

“You killed it. You took Rosaria’s life.”

“And the birth will be a bitch, I won’t lie.” His head lolled to the other side. “But it’s as normal a baby as any other.”

“Why? Why a baby?”

“Oh. I took his father.” His eyes looked down at the bump. “I thought it would be beautifully ironic to make _him_ a father.” After a moment of silence, the voice said again, “Make him feel the pain his father felt when he left him behind, abandoned him to die alone and miserable.”

“So you’re doing it to taunt him?”

“He’s been resisting me, Lucas. All this time, without even realizing it… he’s strong. Stronger than you thought he was… stronger than you’ve ever been.”

“And you had to beat him.”

A smile crept up Michael’s lips. “If you take this baby out before its time, I’ll kill him.”

Lucas shrugged. “You just said he’s too strong. Strong enough to resist you when I couldn’t.”

The smile dropped. “Do _not_ test me.”

Then everything became a blur of pain and torture. Michael faintly felt Lucas pick him up and set him softly on the floor, though every part of his body screamed in pain - as did he. His head burned, heavy with screams from the demon himself. His stomach rolled, kicks and punches from inside hurting him in all directions.

“Michael! Michael!”

He wanted to shout for help. To tell Lucas to do anything, to kill the creature, even if the demon would kill him afterwards.

But the pain was too much, he could barely open his eyes and look at Lucas through his tears.

“I’m here, Michael. You’ll be alright.”

Another kick from his stomach, and this time he felt its meager contents rise up. He was too weak to even roll to his side, but luckily Lucas caught up and helped him. Michael threw up weakly, whimpering in pain between bouts of vomit.

“Michael, it’s growing.”

He didn’t have the strength to look at it.

“You belly, it’s getting- I’ll be right here, Michael. Stay with me.”

_Yes. Stay with the priest. Who caused this to you. He couldn’t even protect himself, how will he protect you?_

The demon’s taunts kept on as Michael heard, faintly, Lucas talk to… himself? The demon’s voice was too loud in his head to understand what Lucas was saying.

Minutes passed, and the kicks kept on even after Michael had nothing else to throw up. He felt _wet_ down there - probably had emptied his bladder without realizing it… or he was bleeding profusely. He couldn’t know, nor did he have the strength to check. His throat was raw from his screaming, not that he had much energy to scream anymore. The demon kept taunting him, now simply resorting to telling him what damage he’d already caused him, rendering him incapacitated, mute and senseless from the pain.

 _That’s exactly how your father felt, right before I killed him. After_ you _had left him behind._

Something changed. The room felt empty.

_See? Even the priest left you. You have no-one._

A shadow appeared somewhere in his vision. He moved his aching head and tried to focus.

Up on the window, high on the wall… he could see a cat. Hermione, standing in the rain, looking at him through the window.

He heard Lucas speak in Italian as he came up the stairs.

Lucas walked in and knelt by his side again. He spoke again, and a woman appeared in Michael’s vision.

She asked Lucas something, he replied, then she crossed herself. She looked panicked as she also knelt down and got out a stethoscope, then put its end on Michael’s stomach. Her eyes widened as she also saw the creature move under the skin of his stomach.

She leaned towards Lucas and they exchanged some words, both sounding frantic and scared.

The woman ran off as Lucas leaned a bit towards Michael.

“Michael? Can you hear me?”

He nodded. It was all he could do to reply.

“We have to take it out now. We don’t have time for a hospital. The creature may grow and rip you apart, or start rotting inside you if it dies. Okay?”

Tears fell from his eyes. What was happening?

“I’m afraid we don’t have time for a sedation. Stay with me, Michael, okay?”

“You try and test me again, priest,” Michael’s voice said.

Lucas’ face crumbled. “I’m so sorry, Michael.”

The woman appeared again, holding a bunch of towels and a bottle of pure alcohol. Michael winced and whimpered.

“It’s going to be alright, son. Just stay with me.”

The two of them spread towels on the floor next to him then rolled him to rest his back on them. The woman looked at his stomach with wide eyes, and seemed to be mouthing something to herself. Then she looked at him. “I’m sorry,” she said in a thick accent, and reached to pick up a scalpel.

The demon laughed in his head.

Michael closed his eyes and sobbed.

“I’m here, Michael,” Lucas said.

No-one’s presence would be enough to dull this moment, though. The scalpel cut through him as he screamed and tried to twist under Lucas’ firm hold.

_Rotten piece of shit. First he lets me possess you, now he does this to you._

Michael screamed, and shook, and cried. Scalpel cutting, hands reaching in, limbs moving inside him…

Then another cry pierced through the room, soon the only cry as he was too exhausted by now to keep at it.

He opened his eyes. The woman was looking at the creature in her blood-stained hands. It looked too much like a baby, but… the pain was too much, and he was so tired, and he was bleeding out…

He could hear conversations, which he was sure he wouldn’t be able to understand even if they’d been in English. The cries became muted, as if from far away, then he felt a series of pinches across his wide-open stomach.

His vision faded. His head turned towards the window…

Hermione was still there.

* * *

He woke up among bright light.

He was sure he was done for. It felt soft, and bright, and it didn’t hurt anymore - not that much, at least.

Then he heard a deep snore beside him.

He opened his eyes. The room was so different from Lucas’ attic. It was bright, with white walls, yet that snore-

He turned his head to the side. A hospital room, of course, and Lucas was asleep in the chair beside his bed.

He looked tired, but Michael needed answers. “Father?” he said.

Still snoring.

“Father!”

Lucas’ head jumped up, and he blinked a few times before he focused on him. “Michael! How are you feeling?”

Michael just sighed.

“You’re gonna be okay.” He rubbed at his face. “The doctor had to weave a whole tale to manage to bring you in and… clean you up.” He looked at Michael’s stomach, still with a small leftover bump. “Of course, not that she had any idea what a standard procedure for such a case would be… but she said you’ll recover.”

“Except for one thing,” Michael whispered and touched where he felt a wide bandage across his stomach. “What the fuck just happened?”

Lucas just shook his head. “The baby is as normal and as healthy as it could be. I wasn’t sure if it would be wise to ask around if anyone had ever heard of a similar case.”

“The case of a man carrying and giving birth to a demon spawn?”

Lucas looked at him. “Right when you came to my house, you seemed to be at the same pregnancy stage that Rosaria was in before she died. The doctor had special tests run for the baby. They didn’t show anything abnormal.”

“What are you saying?”

“The demon didn’t stay long inside me, Michael.”

Michael shivered, then he scoffed. He shook his head. “No. No.”

“I’m not saying you should care for the baby. We’ll find a family, a place for her to grow up.”

 _Her_. Somehow not referring to the… creature as “it” shook him.

“You’re saying you want to let it grow up?”

Lucas looked down. “It’s not in my nature to kill a newborn baby, Michael.”

“The demon left.”

He looked up again.

“He said that’s all he wanted from me. What if it’s inside that baby now?”

“When did he say that?”

Michael sighed. “Right before I passed out.”

Lucas rubbed at his face again. “You can stay with me, if you fear he may come back for you. Not that… not that I helped much.” He looked at him apologetically.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“I taunted him. I _spoke_ to him.”

“He did this to me. And I was the one who’d come uninvited, and if it weren’t for you… I might have been locked up in a cage, with federal agents guarding me all day long. Are you sure the doctor won’t say anything?”

“She’s close to me. If the memories get too much for her, she knows she can talk about it with me.”

Michael nodded and sighed in relief. “What will you do if the baby… ever…”

Lucas sighed. “I can probably get her to a family, or a group home that I can watch over the years.”

“And what if something happens to you?”

“Give me a break, Michael. You think I’m all that prepared to deal with this? I’m trying to work it all out.”

A wave of nausea and guilt washed over Michael; Lucas had no obligation to help cover it all up. Perhaps he still felt guilty, but Michael didn’t blame him.

“Unless you want to strangle the baby you just gave birth to yourself,” Lucas added.

A shiver ran down Michael’s spine. Lucas seemed too eager to protect a baby who came out of literally anywhere - but he was on the outside of it all.

Well, almost. He’d known Rosaria, had been devastated upon her and her unborn child’s deaths, gotten possessed himself, then watched those literally impossible events happen in the span of, what, an hour or so?

And he didn’t want the baby dead.

“If she ever comes back to haunt, possess, or kill you, it’s on you,” Michael said, struggling to make it humorous among the devastating memories of this experience.

Lucas smiled, however.

* * *

Before Michael was even discharged from the hospital, Lucas had already found a family to adopt the baby. He’d be the godfather - despite how some fellow priests might not approve of that - and watch over the child in the years to come.

Despite seeing it as his duty to guide and aid any of God’s children, Michael didn’t want anything to do with this particular baby. Lucas understood, and told him he’d make sure one of his closest confidants would know about it in case something happened to him.

He couldn’t shake off the guilt, however. His own father had… not set the best examples in him, nor inspired him to actually want to raise a child of his own. Still, right before he walked through the gate to the plane back to the States, he couldn’t stop himself from looking back and wondering how the child he’d… helped, bring into life - who, according to Lucas’ theory, might not even share any DNA with him at all - would fare in this world.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic does not reflect my thoughts on unwanted pregnancies in any way, nor is it meant to pass on any moral message. The characters think independently of how I do, and because this is a delicate issue, I wanna make it clear that it’s not any effort to, you know, make a point or something.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, thank


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